Hash Pipe
Encyclopedia
"Hash Pipe" is a song by American alternative rock
band Weezer
. Released in 2001, it was the first single off the band's long-awaited third album, Weezer (The Green Album), and the only one of the SS2K The Summer Sessions songs to make it onto the album, although "Dope Nose
" and "Slob" were released on Maladroit
. According to an interview with Weezer front man Rivers Cuomo, "Hash Pipe" was written on the same night as the hit song "Dope Nose
" off Maladroit
. The story goes that Rivers took "a bunch of Ritalin and had like three shots of tequila
," paced around for a while, then wrote both songs.
The song was inspired by a male transvestite prostitute known for rambling to people in Santa Monica
.
Weezer drummer Patrick Wilson
is featured on the cover of the song's CD single holding a pack of Natural American Spirit
cigarettes that has been blurred out due to copyright issues. Since late 2001, the band has played the song live with a reworked guitar solo that no longer follows the verse melody. The primary melody of the song has similarities to both Fantasy by Aldo Nova
and Kiss Me Deadly by Lita Ford
.
, the first of many Weezer videos that Siega would direct. In the video, Weezer is playing while a group of sumo wrestlers are standing in the background. Sometimes they will show two sumo wrestlers wrestling and at one point in the song, the wrestlers actually appear to play and sing. In the video, guitarist Brian Bell
does a move in which he bends backwards, taking the guitar with him, then thrusts his legs in the way he's bending. This is known among Weezer fans as "the impossible bend."
According to the mini book that accompanies the Video Capture Device
DVD, Siega was asked to avoid referring to the lyrics of the song for the video, due to its themes of homosexual prostitution and drug references.
US CD Retail CD/US Retail 7" Single (Black Vinyl)
UK Retail CD
UK Retail 7" Single (Green Vinyl)
US Promo Remix 12" Single (Black Vinyl)
airplay due to bosses at Radio One taking a stance against the drug taking culture implied in the title (hashish
), although the station did play it once (possibly the only time) when it featured in the UK Top 40. The song title is sometimes displayed as "H*** Pipe" on some channels, perhaps most notably on MTV; the exact reason for the inconsistency of the censored song title is unclear. When the band performed this song on Top of the Pops
, the title and lyric had to be changed to "Half Pipe", which caused confusion as OPM
had released their single "Heaven Is a Half Pipe" at the same time (OPM had performed their song on the same showing, before Weezer took to the stage). When Weezer performed the song on T4 one Sunday afternoon, the title was read out as "Half Pipe", despite the fact that the word "hash" was still heard. Geffen Records
originally did not want "Hash Pipe" to be the lead single off the album, citing the song's lurid content (a transvestite
prostitute) as inappropriate. They suggested that the lead single should be "Don't Let Go."
chart, #24 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks
chart and #16 on Billboard's Canadian Singles Chart
. The video for the song was nominated for Best Rock Video at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards
as well as being nominated for High Times magazine's "Pot Song of the Year" in 2001.
on official releases of the song. Chris Vrenna's "Kick Me" remix was released on the "Hash Pipe" 12" single (which was Weezer's first 12" single) and Jimmy Pop
's remix of the song appears on that release as well as international releases of the "Hash Pipe" single and the international "Island in the Sun
" single. The song has also been covered by Phantom Planet
in concert and by Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine
at one of their live shows.
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Weezer
Weezer
Weezer is an American alternative rock band. The band currently consists of Rivers Cuomo , Patrick Wilson , Brian Bell , and Scott Shriner . The band has changed lineups three times since its formation in 1992...
. Released in 2001, it was the first single off the band's long-awaited third album, Weezer (The Green Album), and the only one of the SS2K The Summer Sessions songs to make it onto the album, although "Dope Nose
Dope Nose
"Dope Nose" is a song by American alternative rock band Weezer. It is the first single off the band's fourth album, Maladroit. It was officially released in 2002, though it had been performed live and in the studio during the band's 2000 summer tour comeback after hiatus."Dope Nose" was said to...
" and "Slob" were released on Maladroit
Maladroit
Maladroit is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band Weezer, released on May 14, 2002 on Geffen Records. The album is the band's first to feature bassist Scott Shriner, following the departure of former bassist Mikey Welsh in 2001...
. According to an interview with Weezer front man Rivers Cuomo, "Hash Pipe" was written on the same night as the hit song "Dope Nose
Dope Nose
"Dope Nose" is a song by American alternative rock band Weezer. It is the first single off the band's fourth album, Maladroit. It was officially released in 2002, though it had been performed live and in the studio during the band's 2000 summer tour comeback after hiatus."Dope Nose" was said to...
" off Maladroit
Maladroit
Maladroit is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band Weezer, released on May 14, 2002 on Geffen Records. The album is the band's first to feature bassist Scott Shriner, following the departure of former bassist Mikey Welsh in 2001...
. The story goes that Rivers took "a bunch of Ritalin and had like three shots of tequila
Tequila
Tequila is a spirit made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, northwest of Guadalajara, and in the highlands of the western Mexican state of Jalisco....
," paced around for a while, then wrote both songs.
The song was inspired by a male transvestite prostitute known for rambling to people in Santa Monica
Santa Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
.
Weezer drummer Patrick Wilson
Patrick Wilson (musician)
Patrick "Pat" George Wilson is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band Weezer. He joined the band in 1992. In addition to his work in Weezer, he also fronts his own band, The Special Goodness....
is featured on the cover of the song's CD single holding a pack of Natural American Spirit
Natural American Spirit
Natural American Spirit is a brand of cigarette and tobacco products manufactured in the United States by the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, a wholly owned independent subsidiary of Reynolds American, in turn 42% owned by British American Tobacco...
cigarettes that has been blurred out due to copyright issues. Since late 2001, the band has played the song live with a reworked guitar solo that no longer follows the verse melody. The primary melody of the song has similarities to both Fantasy by Aldo Nova
Aldo Nova
Aldo Nova is a Canadian guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist and producer, Nova gained fame with his self-titled debut album Aldo Nova in 1981, and its accompanying single "Fantasy", which climbed to #23 on the Billboard Hot 100.-Career:Signing with Portrait Records, Nova released a self-produced...
and Kiss Me Deadly by Lita Ford
Lita Ford
Lita Ford is a British-born, American rock musician and singer who was the lead guitarist for The Runaways and achieved popularity for her solo career between the 1980s and late 2000s.-Early life:...
.
Music video
The video for the song was directed by Marcos SiegaMarcos Siega
Marcos Siega is a film, television, commercial, and music video director. He has also worked as a producer and a musician....
, the first of many Weezer videos that Siega would direct. In the video, Weezer is playing while a group of sumo wrestlers are standing in the background. Sometimes they will show two sumo wrestlers wrestling and at one point in the song, the wrestlers actually appear to play and sing. In the video, guitarist Brian Bell
Brian Bell (musician)
Brian Bell is an American guitarist and songwriter. Active since 1989, he is best known as the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist for the American alternative rock band Weezer. Bell joined Weezer in 1993 following the departure of founding member Jason Cropper...
does a move in which he bends backwards, taking the guitar with him, then thrusts his legs in the way he's bending. This is known among Weezer fans as "the impossible bend."
According to the mini book that accompanies the Video Capture Device
Video Capture Device
Video Capture Device is a DVD released by rock band Weezer. It contains footage from various live gigs in the band's history, from the early stages of their musical career up until 2002. The DVD also contains all of the Weezer music videos from The Blue Album until Maladroit...
DVD, Siega was asked to avoid referring to the lyrics of the song for the video, due to its themes of homosexual prostitution and drug references.
Tracklist
Radio Station Promo- "Hash Pipe" - 3:06
US CD Retail CD/US Retail 7" Single (Black Vinyl)
- "Hash Pipe" -3:06
- "I Do" - 2:10
UK Retail CD
- "Hash Pipe" - 2:51
- "Starlight" - 3:35
- "Hash Pipe" (Jimmy Pop Remix)
- "Hash Pipe" (CD-ROMCD-ROMA CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
Video)
UK Retail 7" Single (Green Vinyl)
- "Hash Pipe" - 2:52
- "Teenage Victory Song" - 3:11
US Promo Remix 12" Single (Black Vinyl)
- "Hash Pipe" (Jimmy Pop Remix)
- "Hash Pipe" (Chris Vrenna's Kick Me Remix)
- "Hash Pipe" (Chris Vrenna's Under Glass Remix) - 4:13
Censorship
"Hash Pipe" was banned from UKUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
airplay due to bosses at Radio One taking a stance against the drug taking culture implied in the title (hashish
Hashish
Hashish is a cannabis preparation composed of compressed stalked resin glands, called trichomes, collected from the unfertilized buds of the cannabis plant. It contains the same active ingredients but in higher concentrations than unsifted buds or leaves...
), although the station did play it once (possibly the only time) when it featured in the UK Top 40. The song title is sometimes displayed as "H*** Pipe" on some channels, perhaps most notably on MTV; the exact reason for the inconsistency of the censored song title is unclear. When the band performed this song on Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
, the title and lyric had to be changed to "Half Pipe", which caused confusion as OPM
OPM (band)
OPM is a Southern California based ska punk band. OPM has a distinctive sound, combining hip hop, rock music, and pop with laid-back reggae.-Band history:...
had released their single "Heaven Is a Half Pipe" at the same time (OPM had performed their song on the same showing, before Weezer took to the stage). When Weezer performed the song on T4 one Sunday afternoon, the title was read out as "Half Pipe", despite the fact that the word "hash" was still heard. Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
originally did not want "Hash Pipe" to be the lead single off the album, citing the song's lurid content (a transvestite
Transvestism
Transvestism is the practice of cross-dressing, which is wearing clothing traditionally associated with the opposite sex. Transvestite refers to a person who cross-dresses; however, the word often has additional connotations. -History:Although the word transvestism was coined as late as the 1910s,...
prostitute) as inappropriate. They suggested that the lead single should be "Don't Let Go."
Awards and success
"Hash Pipe" is one of the band's biggest hits, best remembered for its driving guitar melody, offbeat lyrical content, Cuomo's falsetto vocals and the gang backup vocals of "whoa-oh-oh." The song peaked at #2 on Billboard's Modern Rock TracksModern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
chart, #24 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock Tracks
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...
chart and #16 on Billboard's Canadian Singles Chart
Canadian Singles Chart
The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....
. The video for the song was nominated for Best Rock Video at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
as well as being nominated for High Times magazine's "Pot Song of the Year" in 2001.
Covers and remixes
Two remixes of the song were released as B-sidesA-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
on official releases of the song. Chris Vrenna's "Kick Me" remix was released on the "Hash Pipe" 12" single (which was Weezer's first 12" single) and Jimmy Pop
Jimmy Pop
Jimmy Pop is an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, main songwriter, and founding member of the band Bloodhound Gang.-Biography:After graduating from Perkiomen Valley High School in 1990, he studied mass communication and history at Temple...
's remix of the song appears on that release as well as international releases of the "Hash Pipe" single and the international "Island in the Sun
Island in the Sun (Weezer)
"Island in the Sun" is a song by American alternative rock band Weezer. It is the second single from the band's album, The Green Album. "Island in the Sun" was not originally planned to be on the album, yet producer Ric Ocasek fought for the song and it ended up on the final product...
" single. The song has also been covered by Phantom Planet
Phantom Planet
Phantom Planet are an American alternative rock band from Southern California. Formed in 1994 in Los Angeles, the band consists of Alex Greenwald , Darren Robinson , Sam Farrar and Jeff Conrad . The band is best known for its track "California", which became the theme song for the Fox TV series,...
in concert and by Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine
Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine
Mark Jonathan Davis , known by his stage name Richard Cheese, is an American musician and comedian. He was born in New York...
at one of their live shows.